The resilience of Iran’s underground missile infrastructure near Iran, particularly the Soffeh Mountain complex south of Isfahan, has become a focal point in global military analysis after repeated bunker-busting strikes failed to fully suppress its operational output during the 2025–2026 Israel–US–Iran war. Despite sustained bombardment reportedly involving nearly twenty discrete strike waves, the facility is assessed to have maintained intermittent launch capability, raising renewed questions about the limits of even the most advanced Western deep-penetration munitions against hardened subterranean missile networks.

The campaign formed part of the broader Israel–US–Iran war, which escalated from initial nuclear-related strikes into a wider theatre of missile warfare and infrastructure targeting across multiple Iranian provinces. Within that context, the Soffeh Mountain site emerged as one of the most heavily contested underground military zones in the country.

According to operational assessments derived from satellite imagery and intelligence estimates, US and Israeli forces repeatedly targeted the complex using a combination of stand-off precision munitions and penetrating bombs delivered by stealth and heavy bomber platforms. The U.S. Air Force deployed B-2 Spirit aircraft in conjunction with B-52 Stratofortress sorties, with strike packages focusing on tunnel entrances, underground storage cavities, and suspected missile assembly chambers embedded within the mountain’s granite structure.

The strikes reportedly included repeated use of deep-penetration ordnance, including multi-ton bunker-busting munitions designed to collapse reinforced access points and disrupt subterranean logistics corridors. However, despite visible surface destruction, multiple assessments indicated that core underground chambers remained structurally intact enough to allow restoration of launch activity within hours to days.

A recurring operational pattern emerged: bombardment waves would temporarily suppress activity at the site, followed by rapid reactivation of missile-related operations once damage control teams cleared entrances and restored access routes.

Residents in surrounding areas of Isfahan described an almost cyclical rhythm of destruction and recovery. One account widely circulated in regional reporting captured the perception of sustained conflict intensity: “This mountain, we see it get bombed almost every night, we see the smoke rise, yet when we wake up in the morning, it’s from these very same mountains that we see missiles rising into the sky.”

This observation became emblematic of Tehran’s broader strategic messaging—namely, that Iran’s dispersed underground infrastructure was designed not merely to survive attack but to sustain retaliatory capability under continuous pressure.

Military analysts note that the Soffeh Mountain complex is not an isolated facility but part of a wider ecosystem of hardened missile infrastructure concentrated around Isfahan, long considered a central hub of Iran’s ballistic missile production and storage network. The site is believed to integrate multiple underground tunnel layers, reinforced blast doors, concealed egress routes, and distributed storage chambers intended to prevent single-point failure.

Iran’s broader “Missile Cities” doctrine, developed over decades, emphasizes deep burial of critical systems within mountainous terrain, often hundreds of meters below the surface. These installations are designed to withstand conventional air strikes by dispersing critical components across redundant tunnel systems and ensuring that no single entrance or chamber represents a decisive vulnerability.

Open-source intelligence assessments have previously suggested that Iran operates dozens of major underground missile complexes across the country, alongside hundreds of smaller tunnel systems. Some analyses estimate more than one hundred identified tunnel entrances across multiple strategic sites, reinforcing the distributed nature of the network.

Despite the intensity of the bombardment campaign, intelligence estimates suggest that Iranian missile forces retained a significant portion of operational capability throughout the conflict. While sortie rates and logistical throughput were reportedly disrupted, the network’s redundancy and rapid repair capacity prevented full operational paralysis.

The use of penetrating munitions, including the U.S. GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, demonstrated the ability to inflict severe localized damage, particularly at tunnel mouths and exposed support structures. However, the depth and dispersion of internal chambers limited the ability of even the most advanced ordnance to guarantee destruction of core infrastructure.

In several instances, secondary explosions were observed following strikes, likely resulting from ignited propellant stores or damaged missile fuel reserves. These events caused significant surface-level damage but did not necessarily translate into long-term degradation of subterranean capability.

One of the most significant operational findings from the campaign was Iran’s apparent emphasis on rapid restoration. Engineering teams reportedly mobilized quickly after strike waves, using heavy machinery to clear debris, reconstruct access routes, and restore operational flow within damaged sections of the tunnel network.

Satellite imagery analysis from commercial providers indicated visible recovery activity within short timeframes following bombardment, including the appearance of excavation equipment and resurfaced entry points. In some cases, recovery efforts appeared to begin within hours of strike cessation.

This rapid-response capability effectively transformed repair operations into a core component of Iran’s defensive doctrine, ensuring that temporary disruption did not translate into strategic neutralization.

The sustained use of deep-penetration munitions also imposed a significant financial burden on attacking forces. Each bunker-busting weapon represents a high-cost precision asset, and sustained strike campaigns involving dozens of such munitions can accumulate costs reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Using rough conversion estimates, analysts noted that prolonged bombardment operations could translate into expenditures exceeding US$300 million (approximately RM1.14 billion equivalent), underscoring the asymmetry between the cost of attack and the relatively lower cost of repair and reconstruction for deeply buried infrastructure.

The conflict became one of the most extensively observed underground warfare campaigns in modern history due to the widespread availability of commercial satellite imagery. Providers such as Planet Labs, Airbus, and Maxar continuously documented crater formation, structural collapse, and subsequent reconstruction activity.

This transparency created a dual-use intelligence environment: coalition forces monitored recovery operations to refine targeting cycles, while Iranian authorities leveraged visible survivability as part of their strategic deterrence messaging.

The visibility of tunnel entrances, however, also introduced persistent vulnerabilities. Fixed geographic chokepoints were repeatedly targeted, enabling temporary disruption of launch operations even when deeper structures remained intact.

For Western military planners, the Isfahan campaign underscored a persistent challenge: deeply buried, redundant, and rapidly repairable missile networks may require sustained, long-duration suppression campaigns rather than short, decisive strike packages.

For Iran, the ability to continue missile launches despite repeated bombardment reinforced the strategic value of underground survivability doctrine, particularly when paired with distributed launch systems and mobile transporter-erector-launchers.

However, analysts also note that survivability does not equate to invulnerability. While core capability persisted, repeated strikes degraded infrastructure efficiency, increased operational friction, and imposed cumulative logistical strain.

Similar patterns of strike-and-recovery cycles were reportedly observed across other Iranian underground facilities in regions such as Yazd, Lorestan, Hormozgan, and Tabriz. These sites collectively form a dispersed subterranean network designed to ensure continuity of missile deterrence even under sustained attack.

The repeated survival of the Soffeh Mountain missile complex has intensified debate over the future of deep-strike doctrine in modern warfare. While precision bunker-busting technology demonstrated the ability to inflict significant localized damage, the Iranian case suggests that deeply embedded and rapidly repairable subterranean networks may resist full neutralization even under prolonged bombardment.

As a result, the Isfahan campaign is increasingly viewed by military analysts not as a demonstration of decisive destruction, but as a case study in the evolving balance between offensive airpower and engineered underground survivability in high-intensity conflict.

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Israel has been hitting some of the civilian organisations linked to Hezbollah, as part of its campaign in Lebanon.

Aside from the AQAH, it has hit the Islamic Health Society (IHS), funded by Hezbollah, which operates emergency services, hospitals and medical centres across the county. It has also struck its search-and-rescue teams, killing dozens of rescue workers. Israel claims Hezbollah “is using the IHS as a cover for terrorist activities” and that those killed were carrying out military roles – but that is denied by the IHS.

Israel has also hit buildings housing people who had been displaced by its bombing and evacuation orders.

Such attacks raised widespread suspicion here in Lebanon that Israel is targeting the civilian population that is supportive of Hezbollah – widely referred to here as the ‘bi’a’ of Hezbollah, a word that translates literally as “environment”, and is taken to refer to the social base of the group.

It is a community made up of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who support the party, vote for it, are employed by various civilian organisations linked to it, or are relatives of Hezbollah fighters and members.

Hezbollah’s relationship with that social base – concentrated in Shia-majority areas in the south, the eastern Bekaa valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut – has long been considered a source of strength for the group.

But it has also placed it in the crosshairs of Hezbollah’s enemies.

Israel says AQAH finances Hezbollah’s military activities – a claim denied by the group, which says it has no role beyond offering small, interest-free loans to ordinary Lebanese, in line with Islamic law’s prohibition on charging interest.

Following the strikes on AQAH branches last month, Israel’s then-defence minister said on X that Israel was “destroying the terrorist organisation’s ability to both launch and buy missiles”.

From an international humanitarian law perspective, experts say AQAH is not a lawful military target regardless of Israel’s claims that it plays a role in financing Hezbollah.

“International humanitarian law does not permit attacks on the economic or financial infrastructure of an adversary, even if they indirectly sustain its military activities,” according to Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism.

Mr Saul said the bombing “obliterates the distinction between civilian objects and military objectives” and “opens the door to ‘total war’ against civilian populations”.

In a series of coordinated arson attacks, France’s high-speed rail network was severely disrupted on Friday, July 26, causing nationwide travel chaos just as Paris prepares for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics. The attacks, which targeted signalling infrastructure, led to widespread train cancellations and delays, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers during a peak travel period. The perpetrators of these attacks remain unidentified, raising concerns about security as France gears up to host a global event.

The Attacks

The “deliberate fires” were set at three critical points in the rail network:

• Courtalain (Western France)
• Croisilles (Northern France)
• Pagny-Sur-Moselle (Eastern France)

According to SNCF, France’s national rail operator, the fires damaged vital signalling equipment, leading to significant disruption on the Atlantic, northern, and eastern lines. The attacks resulted in mass cancellations and delays, compounding the already heavy summer holiday traffic.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described the incidents as “coordinated and prepared acts of sabotage.” SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou elaborated that the fires were set in conduits carrying multiple fibre-optic cables, which relay safety information to drivers and control the motors for points that change rails. The damage to these cables was extensive, requiring intensive manual repairs.

SNCF reported that around 800,000 passengers would be affected over the weekend, with 250,000 impacted on Friday alone. This period was particularly busy due to both the Olympics and the peak summer holiday season. The disruptions caused delays ranging from 90 minutes to two hours on services between Paris and the northern and eastern regions of France.

• Paris to London: High-speed rail operator Eurostar announced that one in four services across its network, including trains from Paris to London, would be cancelled. The remaining services would run slower on regular lines not designed for high-speed trains.
• Paris to Bordeaux and Atlantic Coast: Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete noted that one in three trains from Paris’s Montparnasse station were operational by Friday afternoon.
• Northern France: 80% of high-speed trains would run, but all services would experience delays.

Long-distance ride-sharing app Blablacar reported a 150% increase in reservations for Friday, reflecting passengers’ scramble for alternative travel options amid the rail chaos. Railway workers conducting night maintenance in central France spotted unauthorized individuals on site, who fled when police were alerted. These individuals were seen with vans, and incendiary devices were found at the scene, indicating a well-coordinated attack.

Prime Minister Attal condemned the attacks as an “obscene criminal attack” and highlighted the familiarity of the perpetrators with the rail network, suggesting an in-depth knowledge of where to strike. Transport Minister Vergriete confirmed the discovery of incendiary devices and reiterated the criminal nature of the acts.

France’s intelligence services are actively investigating the incidents to identify the perpetrators. A security source suggested that the arson method used resembled past attacks by extreme-left groups. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced the opening of a probe into suspected efforts to undermine “fundamental national interests,” focusing on the possibility of damage inflicted by an organized gang and targeting automated data processing systems. The investigation is being handled by criminal prosecutors, not anti-terrorism units.

The timing of the attacks, just days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics, raises significant security concerns. The ability of the perpetrators to execute coordinated attacks on critical infrastructure highlights potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited during the high-profile event. Ensuring the safety and security of participants and spectators is now a top priority for French authorities.

The disruptions caused by the attacks have economic repercussions, particularly for the tourism and travel sectors. The cancellations and delays not only affect passengers but also have a ripple effect on businesses reliant on efficient rail transport. Additionally, the social impact is considerable, with families and individuals facing significant inconvenience during a peak travel period.

The attacks have prompted swift political responses, with calls for increased security measures and a thorough investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. The government is under pressure to reassure the public and international community of France’s capability to host the Olympics safely.

The arson attacks on France’s high-speed rail network represent a significant security breach with far-reaching implications. As investigations continue, the focus remains on ensuring the safety and security of the nation’s infrastructure, particularly with the impending 2024 Olympics. The resilience of the French rail system and the ability of authorities to address and prevent such threats will be crucial in the coming days and weeks.

The incidents have underscored the need for heightened vigilance and robust security measures to protect critical infrastructure from coordinated attacks. As France navigates this challenging period, the priority is to restore normalcy to the rail network and reassure the public and international community of its preparedness for the global event.

Kezad Utilities & Facilities Management Company developed the $82m gas pipeline